alternate kanji?

is there such a thing or am i retarded?

見る　and 観る　are both pronounced miru and both mean to watch or look?

分かれ道　pronounced wakaremichi and means splitting path
別れ道　pronounced wakaremichi and means separate path?
not sure about that

also
 陰　and 影　both pronounced kage and both mean shadow？

is this right?

One kanji pair that is also interesting is 聞く and 聴く. They both mean to listen, but the first is just to listen, and the second is like what you do at a concert, when you LISTEN. Like, with intent to deeply experience the aural perfection.

And as for 分かれ道 and 別れ道 is that 分 is to cut. See how 刀 (katana) is cutting a piece of string in that kanji? That's its origin. 別 on the other hand is more like "different" as in いいえ、別に ("no, not really") or 別れる ("to break up [a couple]"). Thus, the first makes sense as a path that splits, while the second makes sense as two paths that are separate.

For a little more kanji explanation, I turned to my 新漢英字典, which is the bible for kanji for non-Japanese. I'd refer to my huge-ass Japanese dictionary, but it's exclusively in Japanese, so I don't think it'd help me as much with explaining the English meaning.

別 means "separate, another". 分 means "part, divide into parts, sever".

To answer your other question, 影 means "shadow" or "silhouette" while 陰 means "shade" as in "the shade". E.g., 緑陰 is the shade of trees. One thing to watch out for: 陰影 uses both characters together, and means "shadow" as well. I'm not sure when you would use 陰影 instead of 影 as the noun, but it's probably the same difference as between "illuminate" compared with "brighten". One sounds more intelligent or academic or literary.